Thursday, March 11, 2010

Drug transition update

I am slowly decreasing my dosage of Cellcept.  I am down to less than half of what I had been taking.  I am up to full strength now of the Rapamune.  I feel better already.  I still get tired sometimes after my walk, but not without a reason anymore.  I no longer wake up and already feel tired.  My stomach is getting better too.  I still have a way to go with that, and I still don't have much of an appetite, but I am trying really hard to push myself to eat.
My blood sugars continue to be good.

That was a few days ago.  I have decreased my Cellcept even more and am even better.  I have been testing my endurance lately, and can go a lot farther than a few weeks ago.  It's just wonderful.


The bad news is that now I have the downside of Rapamune, which is mouth sores.  They are not nearly as bad as the stomach and fatigue issues of Cellcept, but are still no fun.  I had a few of them when I was on Rapamune the first time, but not this many.   I have 3 bad ones right now.  As much as I hated to complain already, I asked Janet what I should do about them.  She suggested a medication called Debactoral and Dr. Bellin agreed.  I had a dentist appt this morning and he is going to get some samples in for me to try out.  In the meantime, he prescribed an oral lidocaine rinse, which helps some.


These are just some fun pictures.  The first is a day's worth of pills.

The second is the first flowers of the year.

The last one was taken at work.  One of my very creative coworkers decorated my pig for St. Patrick's Day.

2 comments:

et63 said...

Hi Kathy!!

Testing trip went really well for me. Those mouth sores were discussed in our meeting as well. I can't even imagine, but will no doubt experience them as well. I can only assume that you have tried all the old "home remedies" as well? A drug was mentioned to me but the name is escaping me. I hope to get my call for the final log go ahead. These final weeks of waiting are going to take the toll on me as I can feel the anxiety building in spite of my being very busy in other areas of my life.

Be well!!!
eliza

Chuck said...

Hi Kathy,
My name is Chuck and I go back to UPenn on the 15th for my last set of tests before placement on a transplant list. My email is cemulholland@gmail.com , if you have opportunity to communicate.